“LET'S ROLL: THE STORY OF FLIGHT 93”
Barbara Bowman, Valerie’s mother, greets Barack Obama more than two decades after his 1981 trip to Pakistan where he was allegedly trained by the Honourable Artillery Company on the use of Racal’s Clansman radio for deep-penetration (cf. Man’s Country!) surveillance and target acquisition in Afghanistan.
Check General Dynamics protégés and Bowman hacking, surveillance and target acquisition on 9/11
“9/11 Flight 93 - The Indestructible Red Bandana”
General Greek and the Blindfold Speckled Trout - Chapter 1
“U.S. News Lisa Jefferson: Verizon operator who talked to Todd Beamer
Wednesday, September 11, 2002 By Jim McKinnon, Post-Gazette Staff Writer This week, Lisa D. Jefferson will officially become a hero, even though she still doesn't think of herself that way.
The Verizon Airfone operator was the last person to talk to United Flight 93 passenger Todd Beamer before he and other passengers rushed the cockpit to try to take the plane back from hijackers. She listened as he talked about his family, his fears and his faith, and she prayed the Lord's Prayer and the 23rd Psalm with him.
Jefferson has been invited to New York to receive an award from the American Bible Association as part of a tribute to past and present heroes.
The 44-year-old mother of two is overwhelmed by the attention she still is getting a year after that fateful conversation. "At that moment, believe me, I was not thinking that if I did this I would be a hero later or be on TV," she said. "I just did what I had to do. I was just doing my job."
Jefferson is a customer service supervisor for Verizon Airfone at the switchboard hub in Chicago, where she has worked for 18 years.
She still continuously goes over those 13 minutes on the phone with Beamer, both when she is alone and when she is asked to by reporters.
"When I constantly replay that call over in my mind, it creates emotional stress," Jefferson said this week. "Yes, I do cry a lot."
The real impact struck home about a week after the tragedy when the Chicago Sun Times ran photographs of the passengers and crew of Flight 93. It was the first time, she said, that she was able to put a face to the person with whom she developed such an intense, profound relationship in such a short time.
When she saw the picture, Jefferson said she became ill, unable to keep her food down, and she had to take two days off from work.
The whole experience has drawn her closer to God. She always has been a praying woman. Now she prays even harder.
"That's why I think I was put in this situation to be the messenger for the Beamer family that day," Jefferson said. "I just feel that I ... well, people call me a blessing, so I have to accept that."
She continues to see a therapist, and her husband, Warren, a project manager for Verizon Airfone, and their two children, Lonye, 9, and Warren II, 7, have provided her with additional emotional support.
At her children's elementary school, the principal spearheaded a penny drive in the Jeffersons' names and donated a check to the Beamer family. She said she and Lisa Beamer, Todd Beamer's widow, have become "like girlfriends." They occasionally talk on the phone and contact each other whenever they're in the other's city.
She said that ever since the Post-Gazette contacted her just days after the crashes and wrote about her experience, the media requests for interviews have not stopped. And not all of the attention has come from journalists.
"I've received so many nice cards, e-mails and letters from people all over that I don't know, thanking me for the comfort that I'd given Todd," Jefferson said. "They're calling me a hero and blessing from God. I feel that's an honor." Today, she'll get an award to make the honor official.
Tomorrow, she said, she'll go back to work at the Verizon switchboard headquarters and try to get back to normal.”
“Evolution as a Racal Telecom brand : 1980 to 1991
Vodafone's original logo, used until the introduction of the speechmark logo in 1997 In 1980, Sir Ernest Harrison OBE, the then chairman of Racal Electronics plc. agreed a deal with Lord Weinstock of General Electric Company plc to allow Racal to access some of GEC's tactical battle field radio technology. The head of Racal's military radio division - Gerry Whent was briefed by Ernest Harrison to drive the company into commercial mobile radio. Whent visited GE’s mobile radio factory in Virginia, USA the same year to understand the commercial use of military radio technology.[14]
In 1982, Racal's newly formed Racal Strategic Radio Ltd subsidiary won one of two UK cellular telephone network licences, with the other going to British Telecom[15][16]The network, known as Racal Vodafone, was a joint venture 80% owned by Racal, with Millicom holding 15% and Hambros Technology Trust 5%.
Vodafone was launched on 1 January 1985, and [17] shortly thereafter Racal Strategic Radio was renamed Racal Telecommunications Group Limited.[16] On 29 December 1986, Racal Electronics bought out the minority shareholders of Vodafone for GB£110 million;[18] and Vodafone became a fully owned brand of Racal.
In September 1988, the company was again renamed Racal Telecom. On 26 October 1988, Racal Telecom, majority held by Racal Electronics; went public on the London Stock Exchange with 20% of its stock floated. The successful flotation led to a situation where the Racal's stake in Racal Telecom was valued more than the whole of Racal Electronics. Under stock market pressure to realise full value for shareholders of Racal, Harrison decides in 1991 to demerge Racal Telecom.[19][20] Vodafone Group, then Vodafone Airtouch plc : 1991 to 2000
On 16 September 1991, Racal Telecom was demerged from Racal Electronics as Vodafone Group, with Gerry Whent as its CEO.
In July 1996, Vodafone acquired the two thirds of Talkland it did not already own for £30.6 million.[22] On 19 November 1996, in a defensive move, Vodafone purchased Peoples Phone for £77 million, a 181 store chain whose customers were overwhelmingly using Vodafone's network.[23] In a similar move the company acquired the 80% of Astec Communications that it did not own, a service provider with 21 stores.[24]
In January 1997, Gerald Whent retired and Christopher Gent took over as the CEO. The same year, Vodafone introduced its Speechmark logo, composed of a quotation mark in a circle, with the O's in the Vodafone logotype representing opening and closing quotation marks and suggesting conversation.
On 29 June 1999, Vodafone completed its purchase of AirTouch Communications, Inc. and changed its name to Vodafone Airtouch plc. The merged company commenced trading on 30 June 1999.[25] In order to gain anti-trust approval for the merger, Vodafone sold its 17.2% stake in E-Plus Mobilfunk.[26] The acquisition gave Vodafone a 35% share of Mannesmann, owner of the largest German mobile network.
On 21 September 1999, Vodafone agreed to merge its U.S. wireless assets with those of Bell Atlantic Corp to form Verizon Wireless. The merger was completed on 4 April 2000, just a few months prior to Bell Atlantic's merger with GTE to form Verizon Communications, Inc.
In November 1999, Vodafone made an unsolicited bid for Mannesmann, which was rejected. Vodafone's interest in Mannesmann had been increased by the latter purchase of Orange, the UK mobile operator.[28] Chris Gent would later say Mannesmann's move into the UK broke a "gentleman's agreement" not to compete in each other's home territory.[29] The hostile takeover provoked strong protest in Germany, and a "titanic struggle" which saw Mannesmann resist Vodafone's efforts. However, on 3 February 2000, the Mannesmann board agreed to an increased offer of £112 billion, then the largest corporate merger ever.[29] The EU approved the merger in April 2000 when Vodafone agreed to divest the 'Orange' brand, which was acquired in May 2000 by France Telecom. The conglomerate was subsequently broken up and all manufacturing related operations sold off.
Vodafone Group plc : 2000 to present On 28 July 2000, the Company reverted to its former name, Vodafone Group plc. In April 2001, the first 3G voice call was made on Vodafone United Kingdom's 3G network.”
“Pennsylvania Morgue Site
In their first response, the DMORT DNA team, headed by Dr. Joyce deJong, worked closely with personnel from the Armed Forces DNA Identification Lab (AFDIL). Given the particulars of the crash, DNA identification played a primary role in this response. The DNA team had trained earlier in 2001 at AFDIL, and the coordinated response with AFDIL proved beneficial.
The DMORT Family Assistance Center team, who had just completed training a few weeks before September 11, had their first chance to deploy to Pennsylvania and New York. In Pennsylvania, the team was headed by Cindy Arnold. The FAC team worked out of the Seven Spring Mountain resort, the site of the family center established by United Airlines. They worked closely with United, the Red Cross, and the NTSB to collect victim information. The national travel restrictions posed some problems in obtaining records, and some families chose not to travel to the assistance center.
Collecting family reference blood samples for DNA analysis was established. A DMAT nurse collected and documented the samples from family members and helped to collect direct reference samples.
Given the legal investigative aspects of the crash, a decision was made to produce written protocols for each section of the morgue operation. Under the direction of Marilyn London, each section of the morgue operation produced a written protocol explaining how the section worked. These protocols were compiled, producing a document describing the particulars of the United 93 morgue operation. These protocols will serve as a tool to describe morgue procedures in the event of legal proceedings. Given some of the concerns involving the numbering and processing of remains at previous responses, a triage station was established. Staffed by a pathologist, an anthropologist, and a dentist, the triage team sorted through the remains, first separating personal effects from remains. Once the personal effects were transferred to the FBI, the remains were examined to ascertain their potential for identification. Potentially identifiable remains were assigned a sequential number, a file was created, and the specimen was carried through the morgue operation. Non-identifiable remains were stored in containers, weighed daily, and stored in a separate area of the refrigerated truck. The triage process helped to focus work on remains that would most likely lead to identification, eliminated unidentifiable remains from the morgue flow (also reducing unnecessary paperwork), and greatly simplified the numbering system. The DMORT response began on September 13 and concluded on September 25. While on site, ten positive identifications were made through dental and fingerprint examinations. As of December 2001, 40 of the passengers and crew had been positively identified. Four unique DNA profiles, representing the terrorists, have also been isolated. Thus, all passengers and crew have been identified to the extent possible.
DMORT III and their colleagues from Regions IV, V, IX, and X are honored to have served the brave passengers and crew of United 93, the "flight of heroes". The support and camaraderie between the local officials, the FBI, and the DMORT teams proved invaluable to team morale. While isolated from the events in New York and Washington, the team focused intently on their work. Each team member held a deep understanding of the importance of their role in providing the highest level of care to these victims.”
More to follow.
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